Secondary School Appeal Outcomes for 2012-13

I now have appeal outcomes for nearly every secondary school in Kent that held appeals in the past school year.

I don't proposed to publish individual outcomes as these can be very misleading and some change dramatically year on year; so are not a good guide to future appeal results. In any case, a successful appeal depends not only on the strength of the parental case, the defence put up by the school against admitting additional children, and the pressure on places, but also the way the appeal panel operates.

There is much more information about appeals in the appeal sections of this website (right hand panel) or for some schools in the individual school information section (also via right hand panel).

The majority of appeals held in Kent are heard by Independent Appeal Panels organised by Kent County Council who provide panels for community, foundation, voluntary aided schools, and academies. However 14 Kent non-selective schools, 15 grammar schools and all Medway secondary schools use appeal panels provided by other organisations or, in a very few cases, organised by themselves.

The following tables show the outcomes of independent appeals for these groups of schools, although there is a wide range of outcomes for individual schools, varying year on year.

Kent & Medway School Secondary School Appeal Outcomes 2013

Kent County Council Appeal Panels

Type of School

Number of

Appeals

Appeals

Upheld

Appeals

Rejected

Appeals

withdrawn

Place offered

before appeal

% successful

appeals of those

heard

Non-selective

(14 schools)

196

58

30

53

54

66

Grammar

(18 schools)

904

382

432

90

5

46

Kent and Medway Appeals managed by other organisations

Non-selective

(15 schools)

408

86

168

63

89

34

Grammar

((18 schools)

567

244

241

54

32

50

Several non-selective schools set up appeals included in the above, but ended up offering places to all appellants, either because the schools expanded numbers or other children offered places dropped out probably after successful grammar school appeals. This movement creates what I call the churning effect as parents trade upwards, which has seen more movement this year than most. These schools included (but don't assume this will also happen for 2014 entry): Brockhill Park; Canterbury High; King Ethelbert; Rainham School for Girls; St Simon Stock; and Westlands and Wrotham.

At the other end of the scale,........

Wilmington Academy and The Judd School had none, Bennett Memorial had one and Skinners and Leigh Academy had two (the five schools used just two appeal panel organisations between them); and Rainham Mark Grammar also had just two.

Overall, 42% of the non-selective appeals heard were successful, and a half of those for grammar school places, although this latter figure is inflated by three very high rates of successful appeals at Invicta Grammar, Maidstone Grammar Girls (surprising number of free places after allocation) and Weald of Kent Grammar (having expanded by 30 places). The overall figures are consistent both for appeals run by KCC and those by other organisations. It is rare that individual schools have the same pattern of applications for two successful years, and so I anticipate considerable change in the fortunes of many schools, exacerbated by the new freedoms to expand numbers before allocation day on 3rd March, which is making advice on school choices increasingly difficult. However, I remain probably best placed to offer that advice with my up to date knowledge of the situation in each locality in the county. Which is another way of saying that my Telephone Consultation Service which operates at full stretch for the next three weeks, is the best way of accessing that advice.

I have now supported successful appeals at every oversubscribed school and grammar school in both Kent and Medway, totalling over 700 successes in the past nine years. I am happy to provide preliminary and general advice on appeals through the Telephone Consultation Service until the turn of the year when I focus on those clients who have engaged me for my full appeals service. Parents cannot put in an appeal for any school until after secondary school allocation on 3rd March 2014. For 2013 entry, I was forced to turn down some requests for assistance because of pressure on numbers, but confirm once again that the service carries the additional assurance that I will support you at appeal if required, assuming I am fit and able to do so (your TC fee is also discounted in my fee so there is no net cost for this service).